THE FUTURE OF GOOD GOVERNANCE IN ETHNICALLY MIXED MUNICIPALITIES IN THE REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA

Abstract

Since the signing of the Ohrid Framework Agreement (OFA)
and the beginning of the decentralization process, the preservation of
stable inter-ethnic relations has been one of the biggest challenges in
Macedonia. In the past ten years, the Macedonian society has been a
good example of stable inter-ethnic relations at local level.
This paper provides a brief overview of the current situation
in few ethnically mixed Macedonian municipalities: Gostivar, Tetovo,
Debar, Struga, Butel, Gazi Baba etc. It focuses on the following
issues:
- The level of cooperation among different ethnicities in the decisionmaking process, quantitatively measured thorough an analysis of the
minutes of the meetings held by the municipal councils;
- The status and level of ethnic diversity of civil servants in the
respective municipalities;
- Possible minorisation through mono-ethnic policies;
- The level of accountability, responsibility and transparency of the
respective municipalities;
- Ideas concerning the enhancement of the quality of public services
provided for the citizens and the business sector through
rationalization of the administrative procedures, using modern IT
solutions – sometimes small financial investments can bring great
results;
- Proposals for capacity building of the human resources sectors
within the respective municipalities;
- Overview of the public finance system and possible
recommendations for the enhancement of the budgetary process
through program-oriented budgeting and
- Raising the level of openness and transparency of the municipal
administration through enhanced access to free public information for
citizens, CSO’s and companies.